1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the production of a magnetic head sliders used in magnetic disk apparatuses. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus for polishing a row bar including magnetic head sliders and to a polishing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Magnetic head sliders used in the magnetic disk apparatuses are, first, prepared in a large number in the form of a wafer by a film forming technology. The wafer is then cut into row bars including a plurality of magnetic head sliders. The row bars are then polished so that the floating surfaces of the magnetic head sliders become smooth, and are then cut into individual magnetic head sliders.
The row bar is polished through two steps, i.e., an initial polishing (ELG polishing) and a finish polishing (touch lap polishing or crown polishing). The polishing of a row bar is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-157723, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,375,539. The finish polishing is conducted to release the bending stress in the row bar after the initial polishing, to further improve the smoothness of the surface and to form a crown on the surface.
In the finish polishing, for example, a lapping surface plate having a spherical surface is used, the row bar is adhered to a jig made of an elastic member, and the polishing is carry out by pressing the row bar adhered to the elastic member against the rotating lapping surface plate.
The row bar is adhered to the elastic member and the positioning of the elastic member is difficult, so laborious work is required for precisely positioning the row bar and, besides, polishing the row bar is apt to be affected by a change in the surface state of the elastic member. Besides, as the row bar is held by the elastic member, the terminals of resistance elements of the row bar cannot be bonded to the terminals of a measuring device with bonding wires, so the resistance cannot be measured in the inprocess condition and is apt to be affected by the lapping rate, giving rise to the occurrence of defects such as over-cutting.